Court orders Release of Emefiele to His Lawyers
Justice Olukayode Adeniyi of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, yesterday, ordered the immediate and unconditional release of the detained former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele.
Adeniyi, who made the order while ruling in a bail application by Emefiele, stressed that “there must be an end to detention without trial.
Wednesday, November 8, made it exactly 151 days since the former CBN boss was detained by the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The court said although the federal government had stated that Emefiele would appear in court next week over a pending arraignment, there was no evidence before it to assure that he would be arraigned on the said date.
The former CBN governor, who wore a gold colour kaftan and a brown cap, was brought into the court at 12.45pm.
When the matter was called, his lawyer, Mathew Burkaa, urged the court to admit him to bail, and said his continued detention was in breach of his fundamental human rights as well as the constitution.
The federal government and EFCC lawyers argued that they had obtained an order of a Magistrate Court in Wuse, Abuja, to detain Emefiele till November 10. They, therefore, asked the court to refuse the bail application pending Emefiele’s arraignment next week.
But Adeniyi disagreed with the respondents, pointing out that “there must be an end to detention without trial”. He ordered the immediate release of Emefiele to his lawyers.
